Basket cheese vs Canestrato
Basket cheese
Facts
- Texture
- Fresh
- Type
- Fresh
- Rind
- No rind
- Country
- Levant
- Place
- originated in Turkey
Basket cheese is a fresh cheese of the Levant, and the style originated in Turkey. The Turkish name is sepet peyniri, which means cheese of the basket. Makers drain the curd in a woven basket, and the weave leaves a pattern on the surface. A fresh piece is mild, moist, and often almost without salt. A drier piece is firmer and only lightly salty, but it is still a young cheese.
Canestrato
Facts
- Texture
- Hard
- Type
- Pressed
- Rind
- Natural rind
- Country
- Italy
- Place
- Trentino, Apulia, Basilicata, Sicily, Sardinia
Canestrato is an Italian cheese named for the canestro, the basket that drains and shapes the curd. The basket leaves a woven pattern on the rind, and that mark is the shared sign across many local wheels. The regions tied to the name include Trentino, Apulia, Basilicata, Sicily, and Sardinia. Most pieces are pressed, aged, and firm, with a natural rind and a savory paste. A young wheel can be cut for the table, while an older one is kept for grating.